Laura Pendergest-Holt, the chief investment officer of the Stanford Group, on Monday agreed to a 30-day delay of her indictment on the charge of obstructing the SEC’s investigation into Sir Allen and the Stanford Group.

In the US, federal prosecutors must take a criminal case to a grand jury within 30 days of filing a criminal charge; Ms Pendergest-Holt was arrested on the charge of obstruction of justice on February 27, and was scheduled to be indicted on or before March 29.

But the agreement filed today in Dallas means the government will have until April 29 to take the case to a grand jury, court filings show.

“We’re always hopeful we can talk them out of pursuing an indictment,” Ms Pendergest-Holt’s attorney Dan Cogdell told FT Alphaville. “I’m not overly optimistic, but it doesn’t hurt to try.”

Mr Cogdell said that if they had contested the extension, an indictment would have been a foregone conclusion. Ms Pendergest-Holt’s attorneys maintain that their client is innocent of all allegations.

Ms Pendergest-Holt is the only Stanford executive to have been charged with a crime; her colleagues Allen Stanford and James Davis are currently only facing civil claims. She is also the only one actively engaged in the investigation by the SEC, since both Sir Allen and James Davis – the group’s CFO – have plead the fifth and have refused to cooperate.

This entry was posted by Stacy-Marie Ishmael on Monday, March 23rd, 2009 at 18:58 and is filed under Capital markets, People. Tagged with dan cogdell, Laura Pendergest-Holt, Stanford Financial. Edit this entry.